Trial reportThe American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry2021
Electroconvulsive Therapy Pulse Amplitude and Clinical Outcomes.
Trial report in The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
ECT Pulse Amplitude and Medial Temporal Lobe Engagement
Efficacy of Low Amplitude Pulse Seizure Therapy Versus Standard Ultra-Brief Right Unilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy in Remission of Suicidal Ideation
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Ultrabrief pulse electroconvulsive therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Electroconvulsive therapy, electric field, neuroplasticity, and clinical outcomes.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), Benefits and Adverse Effects in Patients with Depression: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Brain morphometry, stimulation charge, and seizure duration in electroconvulsive therapy.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Equivalent efficacy of left versus right hemisphere accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation for major depressive disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- The relationship between electric field strength induced by electroconvulsive therapy and cognitive and antidepressant outcomes.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy generates a postictal wave of spreading depolarization in mice and humans.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Machine learning based seizure classification and digital biosignal analysis of ECT seizures.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Neuromodulations in Psychiatric Disorders: Emerging Lines of Definition.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2025Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy and cognitive performance from the Global ECT MRI Research Collaboration.Journal of psychiatric research · 2024Article
- Physiotherapy for patients with depression: Recent research progress.World journal of psychiatry · 2024Review
- Amplitude-determined seizure-threshold, electric field modeling, and electroconvulsive therapy antidepressant and cognitive outcomes.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- Evidence of a large current of transcranial alternating current stimulation directly to deep brain regions.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Article
- Electric Field, Ictal Theta Power, and Clinical Outcomes in Electroconvulsive Therapy.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2023Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression.Research square · 2023Article
- Cerebro-cerebellar functional neuroplasticity mediates the effect of electric field on electroconvulsive therapy outcomes.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Electric field distribution predicts efficacy of accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation for late-life depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Recent advances in electroconvulsive therapy in clinical practice and research.Faculty reviews · 2023Review
- Predictive signature of static and dynamic functional connectivity for ECT clinical outcomes.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) pulse amplitude, which determines the induced electric field magnitude in the brain, is currently set at 800-900 milliamperes (mA) on modern ECT devices without any clinical or scientific rationale. The present study assessed differences in depression and cognitive outcomes for three different pulse amplitudes during an acute ECT series. We hypothesized that the lower amplitudes would maintain the antidepressant efficacy of the standard treatment and reduce the risk of neurocognitive impairment.
methodsThis double-blind investigation randomized subjects to three treatment arms: 600, 700, and 800 mA (active comparator). Clinical, cognitive, and imaging assessments were conducted pre-, mid- and post-ECT. Subjects had a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, age range between 50 and 80 years, and met clinical indication for ECT.
resultsThe 700 and 800 mA arms had improvement in depression outcomes relative to the 600 mA arm. The amplitude groups showed no differences in the primary cognitive outcome variable, the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) retention raw score. However, secondary cognitive outcomes such as the Delis Kaplan Executive Function System Letter and Category Fluency measures demonstrated cognitive impairment in the 800 mA arm. DISCUSSION: The results demonstrated a dissociation of depression (higher amplitudes better) and cognitive (lower amplitudes better) related outcomes. Future work is warranted to elucidate the relationship between amplitude, electric field, neuroplasticity, and clinical outcomes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.